Til you
by Carebear3
Summary: Based loosely on the movie 'Til there was you. Flashbacks of Mac's life leading up to when she falls in love.


Disclaimer: I don't own JAG, just use the characters and my imagination to get them to do what I want

Disclaimer: I don't own JAG, just use the characters and my imagination to get them to do what I want. I don't own the movie 'Til there was you either, but it is pretty good.

Author's notes: I forgot this on my other story. This is only my second attempt at fanfic, so any reviews are welcome, but try to be kind. It's loosely based on the movie 'Til there was you, but it's got my own things added in as well.

"Tell me again mommy!" asked a seven-year-old Sarah Mackenzie. It was one of her happiest times, when her parents weren't fighting and her mother would tell her the story of how they met.

"Alright, quiet down, and I'll tell you."

Sarah settled under the covers. Her mother tucked her favorite red quilt around her and began the story. "Well, it was a long time ago, when I was about eighteen and your dad was a little older. I was working for a company as a secretary with my friend Amy."

"Aunt Amy,'' she said from under the quilt.

"Yes, Aunt Amy. Anyway, one day, my boss sent me out on an errand to another company. I was in a rush, because it was almost the end of the day, and I was running out the door when I bumped into a man outside the door. He was quite handsome, and very charming."

"And he apologized for bumping into you and you told him it was okay. And then he asked for your name, and you didn't want to tell him, so you asked his," said Sarah in a gleeful rush.

"That's right. And he said his name was Joe Mackenzie, and he was going into the building to see my boss about a job as another secretary. I excused myself and did my errand, because I didn't think I'd ever see him again. But the next morning, after I had forgotten all about him, there he was sitting at the desk next to mine. I was so surprised, I-''

"Dropped your coffee on the floor!"

"Yes, but who's telling this story? You or me?"

"Sorry mommy," she said with a giggle.

"Okay. Now, where was I? Oh, I remember. I dropped my coffee on the floor. Joe helped me clean it up, and I told him my name. From that day on, we spent every lunch break together, and we got very close."

"And then five months later you got married and had me!" interrupted Sarah again.

"Yes, and that's how your mommy met your daddy."

"Cool."

"Yes it is. Now, you better get to sleep or your father will be mad. Goodnight," said her mother as she left the small room.

"One day, I'm going to fall in love just like that," whispered Sarah as her eyelids began to droop and she fell asleep content. 

Sarah walked into her school building quickly with a bruise on her face. She made her way through the halls with her books and passed the classrooms quickly. She knew she was late, but she hadn't been able to help it. Her father had given her a ride to school when he had woken her up late this morning. Sarah watched as a little boy about her age or a little older ran in front of her. Had she been seven years older, she might have thought him cute, but she was only seven, and still thought boys had cooties. 

He ran into a classroom quickly, and she stopped outside the door to watch the teacher yell at him. "Harmon, how many times must I tell you to be on time to class?" scolded the teacher as the boy sat down in a desk.

"Sorry," he said with a sheepish grin.

Sarah noticed the clock and got on her way again, preparing herself for the scolding she would face as soon as reached her classroom.

Twelve-year-old Sarah and her best friend Anna stood in Anna's living room. They went to a public school together, though Anna's parents were rich enough to send her to a private one. 

"I know our living room seems extravagant, but really, I wish we had a house like yours," said Anna as she sat down on the couch.

"You're kidding, right?" asked Sarah as she sat down next to Anna and began playing with her hair.

"No, I mean it. I like simple things better. Braid my hair, please? You're so much better at it than my mom or our housekeeper."

"Okay," she said as she set to the task at hand. "Lets play the game."

"Alright. I'll go first. When I grow up, I'm going to fall in love with a wonderful guy and get married, and live in a small house with three kids," said Anna.

"When I grow up, I'm going to meet a man and fall in love with him. And he'll be my perfect match, my soul mate."

"When I grow up, you'll still be my best friend."

"When I grow up, you'll still be my best friend too."

Sarah finished braiding Anna's long black hair and tied it off with a beaded hair tie. She went to sit on her friend's piano bench and finished off the game. "When I grow up, I'm never going to put up with a man who drinks too much," she said sadly.

Anna came to sit next to her and wrapped her arms around Sarah in a measure to comfort her friend who was hurting so much.

Sarah walked back into her tent on Red Rock Mesa. "Uncle Matt," she called weakly.

He came over quickly to tend to her. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want to do this," she whimpered as he sat down next to her.

"I know sweetie. But it'll be over in a few weeks. And then we'll get you to AA and you'll be better than you have in a long time."

"I don't feel good." It was a statement, not a complaint. And he knew it.

"I know it doesn't feel good right now, but you're going to have to deal with it sometime. And it's better to have it sooner than later."

She nodded and laid down in her sleeping bag. This was going to require a lot of strength, something she wasn't sure that she had. But her Uncle Matt would get her through it, and she would do it.

Sarah walked into the rose garden where she would meet her new partner. She was known as Mac to everyone but the few people who still knew her as Sarah. And that was really only Uncle Matt and Anna, her long time best friend from childhood.

She stood there waiting when she saw him. He had wonderful eyes, very blue, like the blue of a boy that she remembered from her childhood. She stuck her hand out to shake his and said, "Mac."

He was staring at her, and she couldn't figure out why. But the look on his face was making the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She finally started to withdrawal her hand when he reached out and grabbed it.

"Harm," he said with the strange look still on his face. 

Admiral Chegwidden was staring at the two of them. "Do you two know each other?"

"No sir," she answered, just as he also said, "Yes sir."

She looked at him oddly and then he apologized. "I'm sorry. Of course I don't know you major. I just had a case of déjà vu."

"Must be the uniform," she commented.

"No, actually, she was in the Navy."

Mac smiled to herself. This was going to be a long partnership, she thought before she got moving to work on the case.

After knowing Harmon Rabb, Jr. for the first few weeks, Mac was quite impressed with him. She was describing him on the phone to Anna when Anna commented on a game they had played as children. 

"He sounds cute. Like the perfect man you said you were going to marry when you grew up," said Anna laughing.

Mac laughed as well. "Do you realize how long it's been since we played the game?"

"I know. It seems like forever since we were sitting on my piano bench in my living room while you braided my hair and talked about what we'd do when we grew up."

"I miss being little, not having to worry about anything except for what you were going to do with your best friend on the weekend."

"Me too."

Both women were silent for a few seconds before Anna started up again. "So when do I get to meet your new partner?"

Mac laughed again. "Anna, I just met the guy myself. Give me a little time before you meet him."

"Alright. Listen, I got to go. I'll see you later."

"Kay bye." Mac hung up the phone and wondered what she'd gotten herself into.

A few years at JAG had done Sarah a lot of good, observed Anna as she once again met her for lunch. "Hey Sarah," she said as she sat down at the table.

"Hey!" she said ecstatically. "How's everything going?"

"Ben's fine. He's got a new job, better pay. And Molly is doing great. She's two months as of yesterday."

"Got the latest pictures?"

Anna handed Sarah three pictures of a baby with curly black hair. "She looks exactly like you. It's been a few weeks since I've seen her."

"You don't come around often enough."

"I've been busy. Harm and I have been working on a lot of extra cases, having a lot to do."

"Yeah. You should bring him with you again."

Anna saw Sarah blush slightly and guessed. "You really like him, don't you?"

"He's my best friend," she defended herself uselessly.

"Yeah, and Ben's mine. Does that tell you anything?"

Sarah ignored her. "The thing I find funny is, when you met him, you didn't think he was going to become an important part of your life, and now look at you and him."

Sarah didn't say anything, and the topic of the lunch hour soon turned to many different things.

Harm watched Mac as the elevator door closed. Ever since they had come back from Australia where Mic had proposed, things hadn't been going so well. And then the engagement party hadn't helped things at all.

Now he had gone and done something even more stupid. He had not only told her that he loved her, but now he had gone and said, "If you need me at your wedding, maybe you're marrying the wrong man."

She had glared at him, even after he apologized, and she hadn't wished him good luck. She always had wished him good luck. Harm had a bad feeling about going now, but he brushed it aside and decided to go anyway.

A day later, while it was storming and Harm was drifting in the ocean, he wasn't so sure that it had been a good idea to brush away the bad feeling. "How was I supposed to know this would happen?" he muttered to himself as wave after wave pulled him deeper into the ocean.

He tried to keep from getting sucked under the wave as he thought of Mac. He wished he could get back, if not to stop her from marrying Mic, then to see her happy again. Because if she was happy, then Harm might be able to move on with his life.

All of a sudden, a bright light shone down on him. He looked up and realized the storm had quieted down a bit and there was a plane above him. Dumbstruck, he waved his hands as they lowered to pull him up.

"And then daddy was rescued and he came back, and you told him you loved him too. And then you didn't marry that guy, but you married daddy instead!" interrupted another little voice gleefully.

The woman smiled. "That is right. You know the story so well," she said as she brushed the hair out of the little girl's eyes.

"But we still like to hear it," said the other little girl from the second bed in the room.

"Sarah," asked a voice from the doorway.

She turned around to see Harm standing there. He came in and gave each little girl a kiss on the forehead. "Goodnight Grace, goodnight Rachel," he said with a smile as he took Sarah's hand and pulled her out the door. The door was open a crack, and seven year old Grace and five year old Rachel peeked out the door, to see their parents in the dark hallway.

Harm leaned downward and kissed Sarah on the lips. Both girls giggled as they re-tucked themselves in.

Then Grace turned to Rachel and whispered, "One day, We're both going to fall in love just like that."

And soon, both girls' eyelids were drooping and they fell asleep content, just as their mother had a generation before.


End file.
